When San Francisco Fashion Week returns this month, don't go expecting the kinds of runway displays you'd find in New York, London or Paris. While apparel by local designers caps the weeklong series of events with three nights of fashion shows, the underlying goal, say those behind the fundraising effort for the San Francisco Fashion and Merchants Alliance (SFFAMA), has more to do with building connections among those in the local fashion, technology and manufacturing industries than fawning over sartorial silhouettes.

"A lot of people think that fashion week is all about runway, but that's the least of it. We really want to focus on how to make businesses work, and we hope people can figure out how they can advance themselves and become better entrepreneurs," says Owen Geronimo, founder and creative director of SFFAMA, which produces the event.

That means a special focus on technology this year, including a Fashion + Tech expo evening featuring fashion startups and a daytime "gameference" exploring the future of gaming in the fashion industry led by the Innovation Management Institute's Julian Loren.

"We want to be recognized as the fashion tech capital, instead of competing with all the runways," Geronimo says.

Still, fashion shows remain part of the week's mix. Evenings devoted to emerging designers, ready-to-wear and avant-garde collections will take place Friday through Sunday at various locations in the city and will feature five or six designers each, among them Camelia Skikos, Scott Ian McFarland, Alyssa Nicole and Brandon Murphy.

Other highlights from the week's packed lineup include an opening reception on Monday, a menswear styling and shopping event dubbed Dapperhood, a talk examining San Francisco's sewing and manufacturing sectors led by SFMade's Janet Lees, and an announcement of the winners of this year's San Francisco Fashion Awards.

A portion of the proceeds from fashion week events will support the Within the Four Walls project, a campaign led by the SFFAMA to fund education scholarships for women in Nepal.

San Francisco Fashion Week: More information, including ticketed event prices and a current schedule of events, is online at www.sanfranciscofashionweek.net.